Investigators are still scouring the 100-acre property in South Carolina where a woman who had been missing for two months was found with a chain around her neck inside a metal storage container.
A tip led investigators to the large plot of land in Woodruff, South Carolina. They began combing through the property Thursday morning when they heard “banging” coming from a padlocked container measuring about 30 feet by 15 feet. A woman, identified as 30-year-old Kala Brown, was being held against her will inside, “chained up like a dog,” said Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright.
A suspect has been arrested but officials said the investigation is not over. Here’s what we know about the man in custody as well as the woman and the ongoing search.
Officials said Todd Kohlhepp, 45, is the owner of the land where they are searching. He was on the property when a search warrant was served. Kohlhepp was arrested Thursday at 10:45 a.m. and is in the detention center, where he is being held on one charge of kidnapping as the investigation continues. He could face more charges, depending on the outcome of the investigation, officials said.
Kohlhepp had a bond hearing this afternoon, but bond was not set and the judge said it will be passed on to a circuit court, officials said. He is scheduled to appear back in court Jan. 19. As of Friday, Kohlhepp had not yet hired an attorney and ABC News was unable to reach him personally for comment.
“This individual is a very, very dangerous individual,” 7th Circuit solicitor Barry Barnette said of Kohlhepp during the bond hearing Friday.
Barnette said Kohlhepp was the last person to speak to Brown before she went missing.
According to South Carolina’s sex offender registry, Kohlhepp was required to register as a sex offender in the state after he was convicted of a kidnapping in Arizona in 1987.
According to court documents obtained by ABC News, Kohlhepp was arrested when he was 15 years old for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl when he was living with his father in Arizona in 1987. Kohlhepp allegedly went to the girl’s house, threatened her with a blue steel revolver and forced her to come to his home where he tied her up and taped her mouth shut before raping her. He then walked her back to her house and threatened to kill her family if she told anyone.
The girl called police to report the incident with Kohlhepp, whom she said she knew as “Todd Sampsell,” using his father’s last name, according to court documents.
Kohlhepp admitted his guilt to police and told authorities he did it because he was enraged at his father, who divorced from his mother when he was about a year old, according to the documents. Kohlhepp told police he was born in Florida, raised in Georgia and moved around a lot. He eventually became a resident in South Carolina where his mother — identified in court documents as Regina Kohlhepp — lived.
Kohlhepp’s case was moved from juvenile to adult court. The judge who moved his case described Kohlhepp as “very bright and should be advanced academically,” but said he is “behaviorally and emotionally dangerous.”
“At less than the age of 9, this juvenile was impulsive, explosive, and preoccupied with sexual content. He has not changed. He has been unabatedly aggressive to others and destructive of property since nursery school. He destroys his own clothing, personal possessions and pets apparently on whim and caprice,” the judge wrote.
Kohlhepp pleaded guilty, providing that the sexual assault charge be dismissed. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and required to register as a sex offender.
A psychiatrist’s report included in the court documents obtained by ABC News paints a troubling picture of Kohlhepp’s childhood. Growing up, he destroyed his bedroom with a hammer, destroyed other children’s projects, hit other children, poured Clorox into a goldfish bowl, shot a dog with a BB gun, shredded his own clothes and was dismissed from the Boy Scouts because he was too disruptive, according to the report.
A pre-sentencing investigation report included in the court documents obtained by ABC News states that Kohlhepp’s mother, Regina Kohlhepp, said her son once threatened to kill her if she didn’t let him go live with his natural father. However, Kohlhepp told officials his natural father was physically and verbally abusive. He also said he had suicidal and homicidal thoughts and had issues with his mother and stepfather. He had extensive counseling for his behavior, including hospitalization, when he was as young as 8 or 9-years-old, according to court documents.
https://twitter.com/WLTX/status/856938873825505280
https://twitter.com/WLTX/status/856448320725811200
https://twitter.com/Halloweenpirate/status/856575694880391174
https://twitter.com/postandcourier/status/857263001963028480
https://twitter.com/OKCFOX/status/804531788282560512
Accused South Carolina serial killer had ties to Arizona
https://twitter.com/CoreyWYFF/status/796079575906349056
Police had to go through several locks to get to Kala Brown. Kohlhepp wrote on an Amazon review, “even my locks have locks”. Cold bloodied ruthless animal.
South Carolina kidnapper who CHAINED woman confesses to seven murders 13 year old quadruple murder
Search that property & find the bunker.
A Woodruff couple says Todd Kohlhepp has talked about a secret bunker
http://www.wyff4.com/article/a-woodruff-couple-says-todd-kohlhepp-has-talked-about-a-secret-bunker/8249032
https://twitter.com/wyffnews4/status/796072341746970624
https://twitter.com/MotoLines/status/796073437559144448
https://twitter.com/PsychologyFans/status/796070567195443200
Kidnapper Appears to Have Posted as Woman’s Dead Boyfriend on Facebook
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/07/kidnapper-appears-to-have-posted-as-woman-s-dead-boyfriend-on-facebook.html
Todd Kohlhepp referenced ‘Hotel California’ on his Amazon account, and the same song appeared on Charlie Carver’s page after he was allegedly abducted by the confessed killer.
When Charlie Carver and his girlfriend Kala Brown disappeared in August, the missing man’s Facebook continued posting in his absence. Those who knew him said Carver wouldn’t have possibly written the taunting posts that appeared on his page. They appear to have been right.
Police identified Carver’s body on a rural South Carolina property on Saturday, after discovering Brown alive and locked in a nearby shipping container, where she had been kept for over two months. The couple’s alleged kidnapper Todd Kohlhepp, 45, is now suspected of at least seven murders. As dark details continue to emerge in Kohlhepp’s case, investigators are researching whether the alleged killer might have written the ominous Facebook posts that first attracted national attention to the missing persons case.
After his disappearance, Carver’s Facebook posted updates claiming he and Brown were married, buying a house, and expecting a daughter. The page also shared posts about digging holes, sword violence, and the final lyrics of The Eagles’ song “Hotel California”:
“Last thing I remember, I was running for the door. I had to find the passage back to the place I was before. ‘Relax,’ said the nightman. ‘We are programmed to receive. You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave.’”
Kohlhepp referenced the same song on his Amazon.com review of high-security padlocks. Police are investigating the posts, and have not stated conclusively whether the account is Kohlhepp’s although the reviews for guns, season of The Walking Dead, and postings’ syntax all mirror activity on his now-deleted Facebook.
“Now my locks have locks… place is hotel california now,” Kohlhepp wrote in 2015.
Carver’s car, a 2002 white Pontiac Grand Prix with a South Carolina license plate number HWY124, was found on the property on Thursday
Police are seen standing around a hole in the ground that had been dug as part of the search for bodies on the property on Friday
A county sheriff helicopter lands at a property owned by Todd Kohlhepp, where a body was found on Friday afternoon
Timeline in Todd Kohlhepp case
Over the weekend Todd Kohlhepp, the man charged in the kidnapping of Kala Brown, confessed to the murders at Superbike Motorsports in 2003, according to Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright. The confession comes after the body of Brown’s boyfriend, Charlie Carver, was found on Kohlhepp’s property on Friday. Another body was found on his property on Sunday, Wright said.
Aug. 31:
-Kala Brown, Charlie Carver reported missing
Thursday:
-Authorities execute search warrant at Todd Kohlhepp’s property on Wofford Road and find Brown chained in a metal container
-Car belonging to Carver found on property
Friday:
-Kohlhepp goes before judge for kidnapping charge
-Authorities find body on Kohlhepp’s property
Saturday:
-Coroner identifies body found on Friday as Carver
-Sheriff announces Kohlhepp confessed to four murders at Superbike Motorsports in 2003
Sunday:
-Family of victims in Superbike Motorsports murders talk about Kohlhepp’s arrest
-Sheriff announces another body was found on property
Monday:
-Second and third body removed from Kohlhepp property
-FBI, Homeland Security assisting in investigation
Tuesday:
-Testing begins to identify second, third body
http://www.wyff4.com/article/kim-kardashian-reveals-she-wants-to-explore-surrogacy/8254412
https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/795574133505585152
Bodies are probably all over that property. Keep searching.
Y’all this is some wild ISH here. Please take the time to read his social media postings at Amazon. He’s cleverly talking about himself.
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/795802676747497472
Chicas, this is some unbelievable ISH! Looking at the containers in the photos, is this where he kept his victim for 2 months? It was by the Grace of God that she started banging on the medal containers while police were on the ground with a search warrant.
Damn he is seriously twisted. A real live lifetime movie. They will probably find a lot more bodies. SMH.
Who chains women like animals? This MOFO is lower than an animal.
I’m thinking the same thing. He posted a pic of woman being caught on camera walking around his property. I’ll bet she’s one of his victims. I’ll post pic in a little bit.